Consolidation officially on Nov. 6 ballot in Clarksville-Montgomery County

Montgomery County Clerk Kellie Jackson, left, stamps the proposed charter for consolidated government in Clarksville-Montgomery County, setting in motion the Nov. 6 referendum. Looking on are Katie Gambill, center, who has chaired the charter commission over the past year, and Katy Olita, commission secretary.(Photo: Jimmy Settle/The Leaf-Chronicle)Buy Photo

It's official: The question of whether to abandon having separate city and county governments in Clarksville and Montgomery County, and instead implement a consolidated, or metropolitan, form of government, essentially combining the two into one, is now on the Nov. 6 election ballot.

Local voters will decide for or against the unified form of government when they go to the polls for the state general and Clarksville city election.

As required by law, Katie Gambill and Katy Olita of the 15-member mayoral-appointed charter commission on proposed consolidated government hand-delivered the final 88-page charter Thursday afternoon, first to County Clerk Kellie Jackson, who stamped it with her seal, making it official, and then to Administrator of Elections Elizabeth Black to have it placed on the ballot.

"I am proud of the charter that we have produced," Gambill said as she handed it off to Black. "I do think it's a really good document."

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Montgomery County Administrator of Elections Elizabeth Black, left, receives the officially stamped consolidated government charter from Katie Gambill, right, and Katy Olita of the charter commission. It's now on the Nov. 6 ballot.(Photo: Jimmy Settle/The Leaf-Chronicle)

Black said the question on the ballot will be phrased simply and succinctly, merely asking voters to vote "yes" or "no" on whether to institute consolidated government. There will be no context about the proposed charter and its provisions on the ballot itself.

Ten of the charter commission members were originally appointed by Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett and five by Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan. That division of appointments is according to state statute.

This year marks the third time in local history that voters will have been asked to weigh in on the idea of consolidating local government. Previous referendums in 1980 and 1996 saw the measure voted down.

For the referendum to pass, it must gain approval from separate majorities of voters living within the Clarksville city limits and in the unincorporated area of Montgomery County. It is the latter where the measure has had greater difficulty gaining traction in the past.

The current effort goes back more than two years, when a handful of local business leaders began the grass-roots effort. The Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce advocated having a charter commission formed to write a proposed charter, and to have the question placed on the ballot once again for voters to decide.

In May 2017, the Clarksville City Council and Montgomery County Commission voted in favor of creating the charter commission, the two mayors made their commission appointments, and the meticulous — and sometimes contentious — work of writing the charter began.

Some key features of the proposed charter include how law enforcement would be theoretically handled. The charter commission, referencing its decision to state constitutional requirements, says the elected sheriff would be the top law enforcement officer in the community.

Also, the new local government would have a self-appointed audit committee, as well as an ethics commission.

The charter commission does not speak to taxation issues in its proposed charter, nor does it have that authority. Any taxation would be conducted by the legislative body of the new government.

Once instituted, the only way a change could be written into the charter would be by a vote of the citizens directly affected by the change. Any change would have to pass by a majority vote of city and county residents separately — or, to be more precise under consolidated government language, the separate urban and general services districts.

Olita also noted that employees of the new government would be able to appeal any disciplinary actions or firing through due process. Currently, city employees have some due process avenues afforded to them, but county employees can be hired, and fired, at will.

Reach Business Editor Jimmy Settle at 931-245-0247 and on Twitter @settle_leaf.